China's Xi Jinping greets new Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, says ‘iron-clad friendship choice of history and…’

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Zardari, was resoundingly elected as Pakistan's 14th President on Saturday, making history as the nation's only civilian leader for a second time. Zardari, the co-chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was the joint candidate of the ruling alliance of the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

In his message to Zardari on Sunday, Xi said "China and Pakistan are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and good brothers, adding that the two countries' iron-clad friendship is a choice of history and a precious treasure of the two peoples." Xi said that "the two countries have in recent years maintained close high-level exchanges, supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns, achieved fruitful results in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and maintained a high level of development of bilateral relations," state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Xi in his message said, that as the world is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century, the strategic significance of China-Pakistan relations has become more prominent.

Xi said he highly regards the development of China-Pakistan relations, and is ready to work with President Zardari to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, advance practical cooperation in various fields, push for greater development of China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, accelerate the building of an even closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era, so as to better benefit the two peoples. Earlier, Xi greeted Shehbaz Sharif on being elected as Pakistan’s Prime Minister.